War of Nations
by neurionb
Summary: This is the story of the war between the nations that began when Avatar Aang disappeared. This story begins two weeks before Avatar Aang's disappearance, and ends on the day of his return. NO LONGER ON HIATUS! YAY!
1. War is Brewing

A/N: Chapters 1-3 of this story have all been up on FFNet for ages now without any updates or new chapters, but just recently (4/24/07) I went through and updated all the chapters. The main difference, if you read the old version of this story, is that every 2 chapters are now combined into one. I thought it just made more sense, due to length, context, and the average length of future chapters based on my outlines. So old chapters 1 and 2 are now chapter 1, old chapters 3 and 4 are now chapter 2, and old chapters 5 and 6 are now chapter 3. Everything else (as far as the text of the chapters) is the same, except for small differences noted at the bottom of each chapter.

_**War is Brewing**_

Ranon was running as fast as he could, trying to make it in before nightfall. He knew he should have gotten up earlier, and now he was paying the price.

Next time you promise your friend that you'll meet him at his house at a certain time, get out of bed in time to get there!

The gates of the Fire Nation capital city of Grendal were closing quickly, and if Ranon didn't get in before they were closed, the guards would not let him in. Recent raids by mysterious bandits on many important cities all over the world were forcing many rulers to take severe measures, and that meant no exceptions. Not even for a 14 year-old boy simply trying to visit his friend. And if he used airbending to jump over the city walls, he would probably be attacked.

"Wait! I'm almost there!" Ranon shouted desperately.

_I'm not going to make it, _he thought, when a sudden picture of his friend popped into his mind.

_"I call it the air scooter," Aang was saying. _

"_Whoa!" said Ranon. "That's cool! Where did you learn that?"_

"_I made it up…the key is in the circular motion…"_

Ranon had officially mastered airbending and earned his Airbender tattoos just one month ago. He was one of the best young airbenders in history. The only student in the temple who had ever surpassed his skill had been Aang. Despite all this, the air scooter had never come to him easily, and Ranon had only managed to do it successfully twice. Summoning everything Aang had ever told him about the air scooter, he quickly made the circular motion with his hands around the quickly developing sphere of air, and hopped on it. It worked.

"Yes!" he shouted in excitement. But his elation only lasted for a second; Ranon quickly realized that the gates were almost completely shut. Parting the air resistance in front of him, and at the same time putting more energy into the sphere of air beneath him, Ranon sped through the city gates seconds before they clanged shut behind him.

"You cut that one pretty fine," the guard noted as Ranon hopped off the air scooter.

"Sorry, it won't happen again."

"You're right. It won't," said a voice behind him.

Ranon spun around, and saw, to his surprise, that Sozin was standing behind him, looking at him with an expression close to frustration. Ranon bowed, for he had heard that the Fire Nation's Council of Elders had recently appointed Sozin as the Fire Lord. Usually, the eldest child of the Fire Lord took over the position when the Fire Lord died, but the previous leader of the Fire Nation had not had any family, making an appointment necessary.

"Fire Lord Sozin," Ranon said with respect. "I was happy to hear that the Council appointed you. A worthy choice, I think."

"Thank you," Sozin responded, yet for some reason, his eyes were narrowed. "I need you to come to the palace briefly, if you don't mind."

"Of course," said Ranon immediately, although he was puzzled.

Why on earth would I be wanted in the palace? 

Sozin lead Ranon through the capital, until they came to the palace. He threw open the doors, walked through the hall, up a flight of stairs, and settled himself on the throne.

"The reason I wanted to see you," Sozin began, "is because I have a message for you. I intend it to be received by your instructor, Gyatso." Sozin produced a small scroll, and threw it toward Ranon, who caught it. "I must ask you not to open it, and deliver it only to Gyatso. It is very important that only he read this."

"Ok." Ranon said. He didn't like to take orders, especially from people that he hardly knew, but he didn't dare refuse the Fire Lord. Not only did Sozin have "Sir, may I ask if-"

"I'm afraid my son is not here today. I don't know when he will return"

"Ok. Also, what did you mean when you said-"

"Grendal will soon be closed to visitors. We feel this precaution is necessary for the time being against all the attacks that have been going around. People are already in low spirits because no one seems to know who these people are, and know one ever survives the raids. It would devastate the Fire Nation if the capital fell to a nameless group of bandits."

One of Sozin's assistants walked through the door then, and he looked troubled when he saw Ranon. He walked quickly up the stairs and whispered something in the Fire Lord's ear. Sozin's expression changed instantly, he suddenly looked almost worried.

"Ranon, I'm afraid that I have to ask you to leave. See to it that Gyatso gets that scroll. Good day."

Ranon felt awkward at the sudden dismissal, but he turned and departed the room without another word. As he left the room though, he noticed a man in the doorway wearing a hooded robe that hid his face, and long sleeves falling past his arms. He thought the man's build was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he thought he had seen a similar person before. Just as he was about to look away, he caught the man's eye, and the stranger quickly looked away after seeing him. But as he did this, his forehead caught the light, and it almost appeared as if there was an arrow on his head…

Why would another airbender not greet me according to custom? Or even acknowledge me? 

But Ranon didn't have any more time to dwell on it, he was quickly being led out of the room by two guards, and, before he knew it, he was outside. However, his paranoid (and slightly curious) streak simply could not pass up what he had just seen, and as he was blowing on his bison whistle, he decided that he would return and try and find out whom the man was. The bison that he had borrowed from Monk Gyatso landed next to him shortly. While he was waiting, Ranon had quickly scribbled a not explaining that the scroll he was now giving to the bison was to be delivered to Monk Gyatso.

"You can get home on your own, can't you boy?" Ranon said, rubbing the bison's head. The great creature only growled in response, but Ranon took it as a yes. He backed away slightly, and the bison took off, and began flying in the direction of the Southern Air Temple.

_I can always get there on my glider if I have to. It'll just take longer……a lot longer._

Turning back to the towering gate of the city, he took a slow, calming breath, and began creating the air scooter so that he could sneak into the Fire Nation capital.

Ranon swiftly ascended the lowest guard tower in the city, taking care to always be in the blind spot of the many patrols that circled Grendal after the gates closed. Just as he began to feel his air scooter lose strength, Ranon reached the peak of the tower. Fortunately, there was no one at the watch post at the moment, but there was a patrol coming along the walkway that connected all of the guard towers in the city. Ranon swiftly jumped down from the guard tower, allowing the air to catch him at the last moment and slow him down. He looked around, and realized that he was very near the palace.

_Fire Lord Sozin showed me out in such a hurry and even had an escort make sure I left the city. If I'm caught, I'll be in a lot of trouble…_

Determined, yet wary, he started to climb the side of the building. Airbending would make far to much noise, and the last thing Ranon wanted to do now was draw attention to himself. After a couple minutes of this, Ranon reached the roof, and, looking around, saw a closed maintenance shaft that led directly into the palace.

_If this thing is straight, and my sense of direction is accurate, this leads directly into the throne room!_

It was no problem to open the shaft with airbending, and soon, Ranon was crawling through the small pipe. He was just about to reach the throne room when the pipe suddenly changed direction.

_What?!_

Ranon instantly realized what had happened. It wasn't a maintenance shaft he was in; it was a ventilation tube.

_Still, I should be just above the throne room…_

And he was. Listening hard, Ranon could just manage to make out voices. Concentrating with all his might now, he heard what was unmistakably Fire Lord Sozin's voice say "Bring him in." There was a scuffling sound, then a noise that sounded like someone stumbling into a room. Sozin's voice rang out again "You say that you come to help me with my plans."

"Yes, Lord So-"

"Silence! When I wish to be spoken to, I will tell you. First, you must prove to me that you are indeed on my side and not simply working for the nomads."

"I assure you Lor-" but the voice suddenly fell short. However, the voice had spoken a little longer this time, and Ranon thought that he recognized the voice.

"Your assurances are neither appreciated or accepted, monk. I want another sort of proof."

Monk! Now Ronan knew where he had heard that voice before, it was one of the master monks of the temple. This particular monk had never had any hand in Ranon's training, and so his name was unknown to Ranon, but at least he was beginning to get an idea of what was going on.

"What sort of proof do you require, Lord Sozin?"

"I want you to lead the plan. You will lead my troops in and tell your fellow monks they are there on a friendly mission. You will do all of this in front of my men, who I already know I can trust. I have given a young airbender the note for Gyatso, he is, as we speak, flying back to the temple to deliver it. He will be alone at the tents in 15 days time, where you can take him out with the support of my troops."

"On account of my loyalty, I have told you that the monks have always scorned me, and not valued my input. I want revenge on them, and with your army and my knowledge of the temple, I can get that. And I promise you my lord, Gyatso will be taken out, that was essential to the plan. Gyatso is the most powerful airbender in history, he could have easily wrecked our-"

There was the sound of Sozin jumping up from his throne at the monk's words. He let out a fire blast, which, unfortunately for Ranon, raised the level of the temperature in the room considerably, temporarily expanding and weakening the supports that held up the roof…..

"IT IS NOT OUR PLAN, FOOL, IT IS MINE! YOU CAUGHT WIND OF IT BY CHANCE AND VOLUNTEERED TO HELP, YOU ARE LUCKY TO BE A PART OF IT! NEVER FORGET THAT! NEVER FORGET THAT IT IS ONLY BECAUSE I ACCEPTED YOU INTO MY GOOD GRACES THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE KILLED ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER AIRBENDERS!"

Killed!? Ranon was panicking now, this sounded serious. If he had understood correctly, then Sozin was mounting an attack on the Southern Air Temple, and if he did that, then that had to mean…..

"My dearest apologies, my lord, I will be more mindful. But I must ask you, your messenger, he said that the power of you firebenders would increase a hundredfold. How is this possible?"

"It is possible, I assure you, and how it is possible is not your concern. Your only concern is getting my troops into all four air temples in the world at the same time, and leading the attack on the Southern one."

"Of course, my lord. I have managed to secure…………."

But Ranon didn't hear the rest, the ventilation tube he was in was beginning to collapse, and it was groaning loudly, drowning out the monk's voice. Ranon winced. Any second now…..And then it came. The tube collapsed, and Ranon was dumped into the attic of the Fire Lord's palace, the only thing between him and Fire Lord Sozin was the thin ceiling, which Ranon felt was still very hot from Sozin's outburst.

"Very well," Said Sozin. "You may go. I need to attend to other matters, you are to stay at the local inn, you will find it quite accommodating. You are to stay in your room and not let anyone know who you are until my chief advisor comes to summon you, understood?"

"Yes, Lord Sozin," said the monk's voice, though it sounded resentful, as Ranon had expected. If the monk had betrayed the airbenders because he felt he wasn't appreciated, and was now receiving that same treatment from the Fire Nation, he might begin to have second thoughts…A bubble of hope filled Ranon for a second, before simple logic punctured it. It was too late now, the monk would either have to help Sozin in his plan or be killed.

_Way to be optimistic. I don't even know for sure what's going on here._

Suddenly, Ranon noticed a beam of light issuing from a small hole in the ceiling. Ranon made his way carefully over to it, and peeked through. He could see the throne room, and the only people in it were maintenance. There was one man who looked like he was polishing the throne with a small saber of fire he was issuing from his hand. Ranon relaxed slightly, and looked up higher into the rafters for a means to leave. He saw the ventilation tube he had fell through, and prepared to jump up in the direction it was going, to try and follow it back to the roof. But as he did this, the increased weight from Ranon standing directly on the ceiling and preparing to jump caused the weakened rafters to give way, and before he could jump, Ranon found himself falling down into the throne room, right on top of a team of firebenders….

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A/N:

_There weren't many changes of the text from when Ranon sneaks into the Fire Nation to the end of the chapter). I changed a few words here or there that I thought just sounded better and made more sense mostly, but nothing big. I did change one bit of information from nearer the beginning__ though, that is, Sozin's line saying "I gave the letter you requested I send to Gyatso…" to "I have given a young airbender the note for Gyatso…". I wanted to make sure it was clear that this whole thing is Sozin's plan, not anyone else's. Thanks for (re) reading!_


	2. Narrow Escape

_**Narrow Escape**_

The noise that Ranon made when he fell through the ceiling was surprisingly minimal, with the result that the only people who noticed it were the firebenders already in the room. As he hit the ground with a thud, Ranon had just enough time to see the firebenders moving over to him in a combat ready position.

_Great, _he thought, but then something else caught his eye. Something large that was directly above him and looked like it was about to fall. The rubble caused by Ranon's fall was lying beneath him, but the new hole in the ceiling had weakened the entire structure, and a large section of the ceiling looked like it was about to collapse.

Suddenly, one of the firebenders cried out through his mask "He's an airbender! Get him!" Ranon jumped to his feet, sending an air current going in all directions at feet level, knocking down the firebenders. They quickly jumped up, and began firing fireball after fireball at Ranon. He jumped between them making his way closer to the doors. He was almost there when he heard the door open behind him. Ranon whirled, to find another firebender standing behind him, quickly taking in the scene. Fortunately, in that brief second, the firebender had left the door open, and Ranon quickly pushed a fast moving air current at him, knocking him off his feet. He once more made the air scooter and zoomed off down the hall to the doorway at the end, the doorway that led out…

Ranon suddenly felt a hot force collide with his head and he tumbled off the air scooter, coming to a halt feet from the door. From his position, Ranon could see four firebenders closing in on him, the one in the lead shooting fireblasts at Ranon as fast as his arms would allow. Ranon quickly drew in his breath and blew, hard, at his attackers. The front two dodged it, but the others weren't so lucky. Ranon just had time to see them crash into the wall at the end of the hall with incredible force before the firebenders had caught up with him.

It was over in a split second. The firebenders spread their arms wide in unison, preparing to launch a devastating double fireblast at Ranon at point-blank range. That was when they made their mistake. Ranon quickly took advantage of their widespread arms, which left their center unprotected. He reached out a hand to each of them, sending the most powerful air current he could muster at them, sending them all of the way back down the long hall to join their comrades on the floor.

Ranon surveyed the scene. The only people near him were unconscious, and they appeared to have been the last in the palace. At least, no one was coming running to see what the source of all the noise was. He turned back around to face the door, and opened it slowly. What he saw made his jaw drop.

A vast army of firebenders in masks, and soldiers wearing battle helmets was parading through the street, heading for the city gate. The sight was transfixing, both awesome and terrifying; thousands of men in matching uniforms, carrying swords and spears, marching by at a regular pace.

_Ok, I'll just wait for them to pass._

And that might have worked, but soon, Ranon saw a small group of soldiers wearing fancier uniforms than the rest breaking off from the long march and heading for the palace.

_Perfect._

Ranon slowly closed the door, hoping the soldiers hadn't noticed that it had been slightly ajar. He tried to form the air scooter, but it didn't work, probably because he was rushing. Grunting angrily, he ran down the hall, and had just opened the door to the throne room when he heard the soldiers open the main door. He slipped into the throne room and quickly but quietly shut the door. Ranon pressed his ear against the door, trying hard to slow his breathing. The soldiers walking through the room made the only sound for a second. Then, they must have spotted the bodies of the unconscious firebenders lying slumped against a wall, for there was a loud cry, then a shout 

"I thought I saw the throne room door close! There must be someone in there!" said a deep voice.

"Let's get him!" cried another voice.

Ranon heard the pace of their footsteps increase, stepped away from the door, and assumed a combat-ready stance. He had only seconds to prepare, the next moment, the door burst open and five soldiers were running into the room. Ranon sent an air current at them, but they all jumped and dodged it. The man in the lead took advantage of this jump and sent his sword crashing down toward Ranon's head, but Ranon dodged it, and swept at his legs. The soldier stumbled, and Ranon blew him across the room, hard, causing him to hit a wall and lose consciousness. 

An instant later, the other soldiers were on top of him. Ranon jumped into the air, kicking two of the soldiers with his feet as he accelerated upward with incredible force. He could feel their jawbones break as his foot made contact.

_Three down._

Ranon landed just in front of the throne, and took a quick breath as the battle paused. Three of the soldiers were unconscious; two remained, both with spears and swords. They both charged and threw their spears at Ranon he dodged one and caught the other, bringing it down as hard as he could on the floor in front of him, snapping off the end. The soldiers had drawn their swords, and reached Ranon when, at the last second, Ranon used the spear to propel a large amount of air at them, knocking them back to the front of the room. One of the soldiers looked like he had lost consciousness, at least, he was still breathing. The other was lucky; he had hit the door, which had given way, causing the soldier to slide to a stop just outside the throne room. He stumbled to his feet and made a run for the door, no doubt to alert his comrades.

Ranon began to move toward him, but realized the soldier was to far gone, there was no way Ranon could catch up.

_Great. In about 30 seconds, I'm going to have at least 10,000 firebenders and soldiers coming after me._

There was only one thing to do. Ranon jumped upward, using airbending to make it all the way to the ceiling. The large section of ceiling he had noticed earlier was going to fall any minute, five of the 8 wooden beams supporting it had collapsed. And fireblasts, air currents, and the flying bodies of soldiers had now hit many of the other dozens of support beams in the throne room.

_If I time this right, I bet I could drop this entire room around them…_

But there was no time, and Ranon quickly realized it. If he stayed long enough to drop the ceiling on the firebenders, the entire building would be surrounded. He'd be captured instantly if he was lucky enough to survive the almost definite collapse of the entire room. Suddenly, he got a sickening feeling in his stomach for even thinking of killing, it went against every law of the air nomads. The other soldiers were unconscious, and that was fine, but Ranon knew he couldn't kill. The only other option was to leave, now, whether or not the only way of doing so looked like it couldn't have supported the weight of a lemur anymore. Ranon crawled on the outside of the ventilation shaft, hoping it could support his weight for only a little bit longer. He was almost to the roof when it started to groan and lean away from its path. At the same time, he heard shouts below in the throne room. An idea suddenly springing to mind, Ranon pushed an air current at the part of the roof where the ventilation shaft went through, where he knew the roof was weakest. It worked, a small section of the roof gave, and then a larger section as the pipe began to come crashing down, the seal connecting the pipe and the roof broke.

_That pipe ought to send them running out of the room if it hits the ground…._

Ranon quickly jumped off the pipe, and managed to get both hands through the large split now in the roof. Pulling himself up, he turned around and saw that the pipe was falling in the direction of the hole he had made in the ceiling of the throne room when he had fallen through it. He sent a wide current of air at the pipe, speeding it up considerably. Seconds later, he heard the unmistakable crash as the pipe hit the floor, and then the equally loud cries of soldiers running madly from the room.. Ranon grinned to himself, and sent a final small, concentrated blow toward largest support beam in the throne room, just visible through the holes in the roof and the ceiling. Ranon was surprised at his own power when he felt a small kick at the release of this last strike, and when it hit the beam, the entire support shattered from the force of the air. Ranon turned around and jumped from the roof to the ground just as he heard the final, unmistakable crunch, which meant that the throne room had completely collapsed. No one had been inside it, and, what was more, the separate but connected structure of the palace prevented the entire building collapsing when one room did. Almost beginning to feel relieved, Ranon heaved a small sigh, and actually began to grin again until he saw just where he had jumped.

The procession of soldiers Ranon had seen earlier was much longer then he had thought. The back end of it was still going by, and Ranon had landed right in the middle of it. A hundred spears from a hundred soldiers suddenly moved into ready position, inches from Ranon's face. A hundred hands from a hundred firebenders raised and pointed directly at him.

Ranon took a deep steadying breath. As far as he could see, there was only one way out of his current predicament. Most likely, none of the soldiers could throw their spears accurately at long range. Fireblasts, too, were hard to make accurate over great distances, so it appeared Ranon had only one option. Run, and run fast.

Ranon realized with a jolt that he was still holding the deep breath he had taken seconds ago. He slowly drew in a little more air, and began raising his hands to his head. The soldiers lowered their spears, and the two closest firebenders dropped their hands slightly and moved slowly toward Ranon. Just before they reached him, he let out his breath, and took it in again, letting it out again as hard as he could directly at the firebenders.

Several things happened at the same time in that instant. The two firebenders flew backward, knocking down several of their comrades. The soldiers raised their spears again and began to thrust them toward Ranon. Or, at least, where Ranon had been an instant before, his breath had propelled him up and backwards several feet. Two more of the firebenders raised their hands and prepared to attack. But they never finished. As Ranon had blown away the first two firebenders, he had already been preparing to attack the next two closest to him, which he did now, with streams of air from his hands. The firebenders slid backwards several feet, but did not fall down, and raised their hands again, only to see that Ranon was already on top of the roof of the nearest building. He had attacked for the second time while he was still in the air, propelling him backward just enough to reach the roof of the building behind him.

_I hope I don't have to do that again._

Ranon quickly began jumping from roof to roof, trying to get out of sight of the column of soldiers. The next time he was surrounded, they would be more careful. He could already hear the shouts of hundreds of soldiers and firebenders in the distance looking for him. They were shouting to each other to coordinate movement, but it also told Ranon exactly where most of them were. Apparently, they thought that there were too many of them to evade for long.

Fortunately, they were wrong. By waiting for the right moment, and jumping from roof to roof, Ranon managed to get almost all of the way to the edge of the city without being spotted once. However, the hardest part was yet to come. There weren't very many staircases leading up to the guard towers positioned all around the city, and Ranon could see that every possible exit to the city was being guarded.

_Great. I'm gonna have to fight my way out._

Ranon looked around from his high vantage point. The nearest staircase was about 100 yards away from him, and led to the highest watchtower in the city, the one that also held the gate winch. There were two firebenders standing stock-still at the base of the tower staircase, hands by their sides, eyes glancing sharply around through the slits in their masks.

Ranon was on top of a five-story hotel, a drop from which would severely hurt him even with the cushion airbending provided. He dropped from landing to landing, trying to move as fast as he could. If he was going to be a target, he was going to be a moving target.

----------------------

The monk was meditating in his room at the hotel, trying to shut off all of the noise around him. This was proving particularly hard, as all of the soldiers in the city seemed to have taken it upon themselves to march as loudly as they could, shouting things at each other at the top of their voices. The monk sighed. Just because they were about to try and kill and entire culture and civilization didn't mean they couldn't do it quietly.

After a while, the shouts began to be quieter, and less frequent. _About time,_ thought the monk, hoping he could finally meditate in peace. At that precise moment there was a loud _CLUNK_ on the landing outside the nearest window. The monk hurried over to it, just as what looked like a boy jumped off it.

The boy landed on the next ledge down, and as he did so, the back of his head reflected light from a lantern nearby, sending a clear image up at the staring monk one floor above. There was a blue line running up the back of the boy's head. A very familiar line.

The monk cursed and ran out of his room, almost jumping down 4 flights of stairs, to reach the lobby of the hotel, where he saw the Fire Lord's chief advisor just entering, a worried look on his face. The advisor spotted the monk, ran over to him, and whispered a few sentences into his ear.

_**"WHAT?!!"**_

--------------------

Ranon reached the ground next to the hotel in just under half a minute. He was worried that someone had spotted him on his way down, so he moved quickly toward the staircase he had seen less then a minute prior. It took longer to reach than he had expected, because there were several patrols looking for him. Ranon was almost there when a patrol seemed to emerge out of nowhere in front of him.

The men of the patrol started to raise their hands and shout, but a second later, they were all on the floor, another second, and they were unconscious.

_Wow…I'm getting better at this already. I don't know whether or not to be proud…_

Ranon looked around. He was in the market section of the city, and he could tell that the patrol had come from around the other side of a store, a store that was pitch black inside, matching the dark sky surrounding him. Ranon continued on in the direction he had been going, and, a minute later, he was peeking around the corner at the staircase to the main guard tower. A quick glance revealed the same two firebenders guarding the staircase, and a patrol was walking by. However, they soon passed, and Ranon focused his attention on the summit of the tower, where he could see a light inside._So there's at least one person inside the tower…_

Ranon quickly decided that he did not want to engage the front two guards. He ran as fast as he could to his right, hoping that another patrol wouldn't come for at least another minute. He was about 10 feet from the guard on the left now, but at a point in the staircase that was too high to jump onto. Ranon took a deep, steadying breath, and moved slowly toward the guards, hoping they wouldn't turn and spot him. He only had to go about a foot before the decline of the staircase was enough to let him jump on, which he quickly did. But when he landed, he made a soft noise, not loud enough to be distinctly heard, but loud enough to cause the attention of both guards to turn to the staircase. Ranon quickly ducked, hoping that the guards would think he was just an irregularly shaped shadow…

-------------------------------

"What was that?" said one guard.

"That was nothing. Our orders are clear, keep watching the bottom of the staircase. That's what we're doing. Go up and check it out, and you're disobeying a direct order from the Fire Lord."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Ranon sighed quietly in relief, and turned back to the staircase. It didn't take him long to reach the top of the staircase, and a door that led into the tower. Ranon could hear voices conversing inside. Ranon put his ear to the door, and could hear someone saying,

"I'm gonna get a little fresh air. Be right back."

_Finally. A little bit of luck._

It was now or never. Ranon drew away from the door, and, as the handle turned assumed his ready position. A soldier stepped out, and, before he even knew what was happening, there was a large and rather fast moving boot heading straight for his face.

Ranon's kick met its target with a dull crunch, and the man stumbled backwards, knocking down the other soldier in the room. While they were both on the ground, Ranon jumped over them, launching an air current at them that launched them through the doorway and sent them banging down the stairs. Ranon ran over to the door, quickly shutting it and locking it. He turned around and began to look through the room.

All the walls were bare, and the only thing in the room besides a pair of chairs and a desk was the gate winch, which was set in the middle of the room. Ranon ran over to it, and pulled, hard on the rope dangling from the top. This caused a steam-powered pulley system to grind into action, opening the front gate of the city. Ranon allowed himself a short rest, but it didn't last long.

As Ranon strode over to the door, intent on finally getting out of the city that had become a living deathtrap, he noticed that the metal on the door seemed to be glowing red. He gently touched the door, and quickly withdrew his hand with a shout. The guards that had been at the bottom of the staircase were attempting to burn down the door.

Ranon unlocked the door quickly, feeling the key melt in the lock only seconds after it clicked open. Just as the door was almost completely melted, Ranon kicked out at it, sending a stream of air at the bottom of the door. The hinges, which had become very weak and flexible because of the heat, gave instantly to the air pressure, and the door was thrown at the two guards. They ducked, and, as Ranon had purposefully kicked at the bottom of the door, it flew over them. The guards attempted to attack, only to find themselves tumbling down the stairs, propelled by a powerful air current, before they could even raise their hands. Ranon was just starting to run down the staircase when he suddenly saw a tall, bald man just three steps below him.

"Hello, my young airbender. Having fun?" said the monk.

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_This chapter actually had a number of changes to the combat scenes. In what is going to be chapters 4 and 5, I originally planned to establish Ranon's love of all life, a quality shared among all the airbenders (except the traitorous monk of course). However, re-reading my own story showed me that, although I never said it outright, it could basically be assumed that a number of soldier's died, and I decided it was important to establish that character trait earlier on. So all I did was re-write a couple fight scenes to show Ranon actively making sure no one was killed._


	3. On the Run

_**Chapter 3**_

_**On the Run**_

Ranon took a step back at the sudden appearance of the monk, not out of fear, but shock. He recognized that voice. He had heard it less than an hour ago, while in the attic of the Fire Lord's palace.

"Traitor!" he yelled, throwing himself at the monk, all thoughts of fleeing abandoned. But the monk simply put his hands up, palms forward, almost grinning. Ranon halted his attack abruptly, surprised.

"Traitor? I do not see myself as a traitor, what have I ever done to harm my people?"

"You sold them to the Fire Lord!" Ranon yelled, resuming his attack with all the ferocity he could muster, directing his most powerful airbending at the monk before him. But none of it reached the monk; all of Ranon's attacks were deflected, almost effortlessly, and the monk barely even seemed to be paying attention to his furious attacks.

"Save your energy child, there is no use in attacking me, you are far outmatched. Can we not talk? Why do you think me a traitor?"

"I heard you! You're starting a war when no one has ever wronged you, you power-hungry greedy filth!"

The monk smiled gently, shaking his head.

"Start a war? Why, I am not starting any war, I am simply helping a worthy man carry out an extermination of…._ creatures_…. that are unworthy of living in this world. The Air Nomads have become weak, and foolish, and the Earth Kingdom as well. And the Water Tribes have long since decayed beyond recognition; The Southern Tribe is nothing but feeble peasants, and the Northern Tribe is arrogant beyond reason, thinking themselves superior to all others.

They do not even contact their sister tribe, they have let them decay, believing that they are better than even their own people."

"And you don't think the same way?" Ranon spat, fury building up within him.

"That is a very different matter, child, one that you would not understand. The Fire Nation _is _superior to the other nations, just as I am superior to my people. I said I have never betrayed my people, and I speak the truth. The Fire nation is my people now, and I have not betrayed _them_."

That was the last straw; the fury Ranon had been containing finally came bursting out of him and he attacked again. The old monk simply took a step back and deflected the attacks again, but Ranon sensed something about his movements.

_They're slower than mine… Just because he's a stronger airbender than me, doesn't mean he isn't old!_

Having found the monk's weakness, Ranon charged, forcing the monk to back up, fast. But not fast enough. The monk was almost running backward, and down steps, a feat that was already causing him to start breathing hard. After only a few seconds his foot missed the next step down, and he lost his balance. The monk automatically threw out his arms to balance himself, leaving himself open to Ranon's attack.

Ranon took advantage of the opening and threw his arm forward, gathering a ball of air and throwing it at the monk's chest. At point-blank range the small projectile found its target, causing the monk to fall over and slide down the remaining steps. There was a grisly crunch as the monk collided with a wall at the bottom of the stairwell.

Ranon jumped sideways, landing on the ground ten feet below. He had to get out of here before the guards swarmed around. They would have already been attracted to the tower area to find out why the gate had been opened, and the commotion Ranon had just caused would probably make every soldier within 200 yards come rushing.

-----------------------------

The monk stirred on the ground, groaning slightly. For a minute, he could see nothing, then the staircase in front of him began coming into focus.

"Sir? Are you alright?" inquired a voice. The monk's vision finally settled, and he could see his surroundings. Several soldiers had gathered around him and leaned his body comfortably against a wall near the bottom of the staircase.

"How long have I been here?"

"Only few minutes, we came running when we heard the crash."

"Crash…?" Then it came back, the boy, the stumble, the fall, and the crash…

The monk suddenly stood, a furious expression on his face. "Did you see a boy?"

"No, sir. Why…?"

But at the soldier's answer, the monk had run off at an unreal speed. One moment he was there, the next he was gone, though judging by the dust trail he had kicked up, he was heading toward the city gate.

-------------------------

Ranon ran through back alleys, heading at top speed toward the city gate. The guard tower he had just left was very near the gate, so he didn't have far to go. But it was only a matter of minutes, perhaps seconds, before the gate was closed again. And somewhere in the back of his mind, Ranon knew that if he didn't get out of the city very soon, he wasn't going to get out.

Being spotted no longer was important, everyone knew he was here; and Ranon knew he could outrun any soldier in the world. About a minute and a half later, the city gate came into view, and Ranon almost sighed in relief. An instant later though, his temporary relief turned into icy terror, as he saw three lines of soldiers and firebenders, standing in front of the gate as it slowly closed behind them.

_'I'm only going to have one shot at this…..'_

Ranon raised his hands in front of him, and began running, his hands removing the air resistance that he was feeling from running. As he came up upon the line of soldiers, he saw that there was one firebender in front of all of the other soldiers and benders.

It was Sozin.

As Ranon came to within ten feet of Sozin, he flexed his legs simultaneously; Sozin moved his hands in a circular motion. In an instant, it was over: Ranon jumped, propelling himself with airbending; Sozin shot out a bolt of lightning from his fingertips, directly at Ranon. The bolt of lightning came far faster than any firebending Ranon had ever seen. But Ranon's jump had been higher and quicker than Sozin had anticipated. In that split second, the bolt skimmed across Ranon's back penetrating his skin, but his momentum kept him moving forward. Forcing himself to ignore the blinding pain in his back, Ranon felt his foot land on the helmet of a soldier, and jumped again. He flexed his arm in preparation an instant before his hand landed on top of a firebender's head. He pushed himself up with airbending, and slipped through the gates just as they clanged shut behind him.

-------------------------------

"Afiko!" the Fire Lord shouted, his face almost as red in his fury as the flames around him.

"Yes, my lord?" said the monk, his voice trembling.

"Your incompetence and inadequacy may have ruined our entire plan. The Avatar and Gyatso must be taken out immediately. If the boy makes it to the Southern Air Temple before my troops do, the monks may manage to prepare enough so that they can outlast even my firebender's increased strength. You are to leave at once for the Southern Air Temple; I have battalions of troops stationed at the foot of the mountains of all the air temples. Take command of the southern battalion, and take out Gyatso just as planned. When that is done, take the rest of the temple _immediately_. We have no time to spare, we can't wait to setup a simultaneous operation on all the other temples."

"Yes, Lord Sozin", said Afiko.

"Do not delay, I have been planning this for years, and will not have all that time and effort go to waste because of your inability to do your job. Dismissed"

Afiko promptly turned and ran back to the stable where his flying bison was being kept. Usually he would have objected more to being ordered around and spoken too like that, but something in his gut told him not to argue with Sozin when the Fire Lord had that look in his eye…

----------------------------

Ranon was running away from Grendal as fast as his legs would allow. The air scooter took concentration to make, and concentrating was the one thing Ranon knew he couldn't do at the moment, his back was still killing him where the bolt of lightning had hit. Fortunately, there was a small earth kingdom trading outpost not to far south of Grendal. Ranon's bison would have stopped there, the traders knew that all bison flying alone should be given food and sent on their way, payment would come later. Ranon needed to get to them before the Fire Lord could send a team ahead to stop him. Sozin could use any number of lies to convince the men of the Earth Kingdom to take him into custody, and if Ranon told them his side of the story, he knew that they would believe the Fire Lord. Ranon tried to concentrate more on what he would have to do, but he was exhausted, physically and mentally. He looked up and saw the trading outpost just less than a mile away…..

------------------------

Afiko jumped onto his bison in an open stable, deep within Grendal. He flicked the reins, and the bison rose into the air, and began to speed southward. Afiko knew he would have to stop for supplies at the beginning of his journey, but the stable hadn't had any, and it would be quicker to simply get some food and water at the small earth kingdom trading outpost that was just a little south of Grendal. He pulled the reins in that direction, and the bison responded, going as fast as it could in the direction of the outpost.

Suddenly, the monk thought he saw something.

_'Is that…….?'_

A wicked grin came over his face as he gradually had the bison descend, until they were only 10 feet above the ground.…

----------------------------

Ranon was only a hundred yards from the outpost when he heard a swooshing sound behind him. He stopped and turned, and saw a flying bison flying low and directly at him, and from this distance, Ranon could see the monk on top of him. Cursing under his breath, Ranon raised his hands preparing, he knew he could never beat the older monk to the outpost. Just as he prepared to dodge the attack he knew was coming, he saw the monk send a gust of air at his feet. Ranon was forced to jump, and the monk took advantage of that, now only 10 feet away from Ranon. As Ranon reached the peak of his jump, Afiko swung his staff at Ranon.

Ranon was forced to twirl in midair to avoid the blow. He heard the wood of the staff whistle as it swung by, an inch from his face. An instant later, the bison's tail slammed into him, keeping him in midair and launching Ranon forward. Ranon frantically formed a ball of air, which he clung to for a brief second, until he saw a short rope fastened on the underside of the bison, keeping a basket fastened to the bison's back. He made a grab for it, and, got his left hand fastened around the rope, holding on tightly. Fortunately, the monk must have thought that he had killed Ranon, so when he reached the small outpost seconds later, he never thought to look back to see what had happened to Ranon.

-------------------------------

Ranon felt the thump as the bison hit the ground. He pulled himself up, parallel to the bison's body, so that he would not show if the monk happened to look under the bison. He heard another soft thump as the monk dismounted the bison, and walked off. Ranon took a deep breath, and let go of the rope that he was still tightly grasping. He rolled out from under the bison, stood up, and glanced around.

He was in a stable, and the bison was in a large wooden stall, surrounded by hay. Ranon could hear a few platypus bears being kept somewhere close by. He jumped over the wall of the bison's stall, and ran out of the stable, desperate to put as much distance between him and the monk as he could.

A short while later, Ranon stumbled through an alleyway in the outpost, trying to find his way to the governor's house. He needed to tell someone, anyone, about what he had heard, about the Fire Lord's plan. And he needed to do it quickly, it had been 30 minutes since the bison had landed, and Ranon had calmed down, had begun thinking about what had happened. He had seen the Fire Lord's army only hours before, it had been large, and armed, and moving. If Sozin wanted to, Ranon knew, he could probably have this outpost under siege by nightfall. He mulled it over.

_The monk thinks that I'm dead, but he doesn't have a way to tell Sozin that. So Sozin is going to act as he would if he thought I was alive, and in a position to inform the earth kingdom and air nomads of his plan. Which means…_

Ranon gasped. He had realized what it meant, what Sozin was going to do. He ran to the outer gate of the city, all thoughts of talking to the governor, or anyone for that matter, gone. He climbed the steps of a watchtower, and managed to get a view of Grendal, thought it was at a long distance. Even so, there was no mistaking what was happening at the city gate: The gates were opening, and inside of them, Ranon could see a large body of red uniforms, marching slowly but steadily, out of the city. Sozin was preparing to strike the first blow of his war, and Ranon knew that blow would be hard and fast. The city he was in now was a simple trading outpost; it wasn't prepared to fend off a large scale assault. And an assault was coming.

Suddenly remembering himself, Ranon tore off through the town, heading for the center of the outpost, where he knew the governor's house must be. Ranon didn't care how many people he bumped into on the way, and thus, when he ran right into one kid who was walking through the street, he didn't notice who it was until he heard, in a familiar voice:

"Ranon!"

Ranon whirled, and found himself face to face with Bumi, one of his best friends from the Earth Kingdom.

"Bumi! What are you doing here?"

"My father sent me to get supplies for the feast we're having at the king's palace in Omashu tomorrow. This place has everything, and cheap too!"

"No time for that Bumi, I have to go. Come with me, I'll explain on the way…"

----------------------------

"Are the rams ready general?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Good. Burn the city to the ground make sure there are no survivors, make sure no one escapes."

"Of course, my lord."

-------------------------------

"I hope you have more than words to back up your claim, boy, you must realize how preposterous this sounds", the governor of Kurnik said somewhat scathingly to Ranon.

Ranon didn't have time to object to being talked to like a baby, though he noticed that Bumi, who was standing next to him, was snorting silently at the governor's tone. Sozin's invasion force would probably reach the walls of the city within minutes.

"Of course I do, all you have to do is look outside, over the walls."

"Why?"

"Please, just look. The Fire Nation is knocking on the door, and pretty soon, they're going to knock it down.

The governor picked a spyglass from a table, walking over to a window in his small office. He squinted through it, looking out across the city, but quickly realized that it was completely unnecessary. The house they were in was higher above the ground than all the other buildings of the city, so from the window, there was a clear view to the front gate, where the tops of large catapults were clearly visible, just out of range of the main gate. Sentries were only just beginning to sound the alarm.

Forgetting the children in his shock, the governor ran outside, screaming to his aides to spread the word of an attack.

----------------------------

"The rams are in position my lord."

"Order them to launch the attack immediately."

"Yes my lord. And the catapults?"

"Armed and ready to fire."

"Shoot the guard posts down."

Just then a messenger came running up to them, his face covered with soot, several cuts along his face.

"My lord, somehow, the town was prepared for us. They have earthbenders bombarding our troops with boulders as soon as they come near the gates. And our fireballs aren't coming anywhere near them."

"No matter, they cannot survive longer than a day. Their walls are thin, and their soldiers, inexperienced. We shall not have problems destroying this place."

"Very well my lord. Should I order the men to ceasefire on the catapults?"

"Immediately. They're hurting us more than them."

"Yes my lord."

-----------------------

_2 major changes to this chapter, again, just a word here and there. One thing I did mention though is that Sozin had been planning for years to dominate the world, and in Chapter 1 I say that he has no direct relationship to the previous Fire Lord, and was only recently appointed to be the next ruler of the Fire Nation. This is not a contradiction; I have plans for explaining some backstory involving that. If you're really bored, go ahead and speculate on it, that would definitely make my day. Second, I took out several lines of the sequences where the commander of the army trying to take Kurnik is talking. I won't say what lines specifically, as that would give away a surprise if have in Chapter 4, but in case you remember, just bear that in mind. Chapter 4, which will (finally) be new stuff, is in progress and should be up by May 20__th__ or so. After that, summer is starting up soon for me, which means I'll have much more time to write. So I'm hoping to be able to possibly finish this story before the school year starts again, or at least get a good way into it. Thanks for reading, reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated._


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